Are US forces essential to war on terror in Africa's Sahel region?

https://uk.news.yahoo.com ^ | May 2020 | France 24 Videos1

[RomanSoldier19]

In the fight against terrorist groups in Africa, US forces provide crucial support to the G5 Sahel group (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) with intelligence, logistics and supplies. But as the terror threat continues to spread in the region, Africa is no longer a priority for the Pentagon, which could well withdraw its troops, as announced by US President Donald Trump.

fancy video at the link

[RomanSoldier19]

[Mogger]

Our troops don’t belong in that hell hole.

[RomanSoldier19]

It is a mess

[Zhang Fei]

It’s amazing that the French have decided they can’t keep several battalions’ worth of troops in Africa. Just decades ago, this was the France on which the sun never set.

[MAGAthon]

withdraw them.

[RomanSoldier19]

There is no end to it, CCP may be more successful.

[glorgau]

No, no, no. And again, No.

[rfp1234]

Used to be part of French West Africa. Let them come back and fix it.

[EEGator]

The problem isn’t the land.

[Psalm 73]

"...the French have decided they can’t keep several battalions’ worth of troops in Africa."

Frees up money for public-sector union pensions....

[drop 50 and fire for effect]

I’ve directly worked on the problems in West Africa. What U.S. troops (and not a lot of them, we’re talking dozens, not hundreds) are doing, is providing transportation and intelligence support to the French, and equipment (which they pay for) and training to local African police and armies.

What’s in it for us? We get them to fight Jihadists from ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other groups aspiring to create an Islamic state in northwestern Africa. The Civil War and chaos in Libya (thanks Hillary!) has allowed other Jihadists to the south and west to now access pipelines of money and weapons. Instead of being localized pains the rear end for African governments, they are now trying to join the Jihadist big leagues.

The Jihadists have been fragmented and fight each other, so with help, the Africans can keep them at bay. Thus we get a lot of bang for the buck by helping other people fight their own wars.

[Redwood71]

“It’s amazing that the French have decided they can’t keep several battalions’ worth of troops in Africa.”

Does the word Vietnam mean anything?

The Colonial Pact was much more than an agreement to station soldiers across Africa. It bound the economies of Africa to the control of France. It made the CFA franc the national currency in both former colonial regions of Africa and created a continuing, and enforceable, dependency on France.

France took possession of their foreign currency reserves;

· controlled the strategic raw materials of the country;

· stationed troops in the country with the right of free passage;

· demanded that all military equipment be acquired from France;

· took over the training of the police and army;

· required that French businesses be allowed to maintain monopoly enterprises in key areas (water, electricity, ports, transport, energy, etc.).

· required that in the award of government contracts in the African countries, French companies should be considered first; only after that could Africans look elsewhere.

The African states must make a contribution to France each year for the infrastructure created by the French colonial system and left behind when independence was granted.

· France not only set limits on the imports of a range of items from outside the franc zone but also sets minimum quantities of imports from France. These treaties are still in force and operational. Including ones we are involved with and have for many years. I hope Trump pulls us out as we are not actually fighting people, we are logistics. The French can do their own.

rwood